After the race, I went to the USATF webpage to find the certification map. It turns out that the race setup crew put the start line at the old pre-certified location one block away. The mile markers were all correct...if the start line was where it was supposed to be. I contacted the race director to tell her about it, especially considering it as a USATF-MN championship race and considered for records. (at least it wasn't short, nullifying anyone's record). They recognized the error and apologized, which is respectible.

After the race, I went to the USATF webpage to find the certification map. It turns out that the race setup crew put the start line at the old pre-certified location one block away. The mile markers were all correct...if the start line was where it was supposed to be. I contacted the race director to tell her about it, especially considering it as a USATF-MN championship race and considered for records. (at least it wasn't short, nullifying anyone's record). They recognized the error and apologized, which is respectible.

This exact thing has happened in far more races than it should.

"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand

I've ran in races where everything was set: certified course, correct start/finish lines, mile markers at the correct spot. But, the motorcycle cop leading the race has no clue where to go. Murphy's law I guess...

If on average the GPS measures long by 1% then you need to run 1% faster than your GPS tells you to make your goal. That means you need to run a little faster than what your GPS tells you. Instead of running 9:09 pace according to your GPS you need to run a 9:04/mile according to your GPS to make it to the finish line in under 2 hours. 9:04 for 13.23 miles = 1:59:57.

Tried that -- still missed my time by 15 seconds in a half marathon. Guess that overconfidence will get you...

Yes. Just within the last year this happened at a fairly high profile race here in KC. Some co-workers complained of the GPS being WAY wrong for their race. (It's usually a little wrong, but also usually can be trusted to be within 1%). When I did some digging into it I found that the race organizers (or the motorcycle cop, or the volunteer course monitors -- whoever) failed to follow the course that had been laid out by the certifier.

You know, what gets me, is that it seems that this should be JOB #1 for an RD. Whatever else goes wrong, and I'm sure there is a LOT that can go wrong, it seems that he or she should make darn sure, double-secret-probation sure, that two things are right: Time and Distance. Period. No excuses.

I also had a 5k get my time wrong by over 20 seconds.... And I was the winner, probably 45 seconds ahead of second place, so I wasn't buried in a pack of people. I even contacted the outfit in charge of race timing and showed them a picture of ME crossing the finish line with the finish clock clearly showing what should have been my correct time. They refused to change my official time. I'll never run that race again -- it just hacks me off so much. Time and Distance, people. Let's get these two things right!! If it means I don't get bananas in the food tent, that is fine.

If you find that you can make any sense whatsoever out of your GPS, the various mile markers, or the flickering mental math running through your feeble brain in the last 6 miles of a marathon or the last 4 miles of a half marathon, that is a sign that you need to RUN HARDER!

If you find that you can make any sense whatsoever out of your GPS, the various mile markers, or the flickering mental math running through your feeble brain in the last 6 miles of a marathon or the last 4 miles of a half marathon, that is a sign that you need to RUN FASTER!

Oh, sure. Like not getting killed by cars is more important than time and distance. Sheesh.

Oh come on. Haven't you seen the numbers at the rock-and-roll profit centers? Running has become very popular and amateurish, and all the traditional values have been overthrown, and people just value pansy crap like pretty shoes, and pretty clothes, and not getting run over, and everyone getting a medal, and all that. The sport is essentially over.